Live from the Boathouse: Brenda Geer, endawnis Spears, and Karyl Evans

Thursday, November 7, 2024
Live from the Boathouse!
Brenda Geer, endawnis Spears and Karyl Evans present:
Working with Native Peoples in Connecticut
6:00 – 7:00 pm
Members: FREE (please use the ticket reservation link to reserve your spot)
Non-Members: $5.00

Brenda Geer (Eastern Pequot), endawnis Spears (Diné/ Ojibwe/ Chickasaw/ Choctaw) and Karyl Evans have been working together for over four years on a documentary film project titled “Native Peoples of Connecticut” for both public broadcast and for use as a curriculum resource for Connecticut public schools. Project director and filmmaker Karyl Evans has received 2 planning grants from CT Humanities for the documentary and the project team has just completed 15 interviews with citizens from all five state and federally recognized tribes in Connecticut to help develop themes for the script. Join our three speakers to hear advice and lessons learned in working respectfully and productively with the Native people in our state.

Brenda Geer is the current Chairwoman of NAHAC (Native American Heritage Advisory Council) and has served for over 15 years. She works with local Archeologists, Anthropologists, SHPO, THPO and all 5 federally-recognized tribes in Connecticut. She is a 1985 graduate of Norwich Tech and works as a Case Manager for the Rhode Island Indian Council, a Non-profit WIOA (Workforce Innovation Opportunities Act) program where “Natives are serving Natives” for Employment & Training. She is very passionate about her Tribe and has worked very hard in service of her community over the past 33 years, acting as an advocate for all Native communities. She has developed programs & Committees to improve communications with members and Non-Native neighbors.

endawnis Spears (Diné/ Ojibwe/ Chickasaw/ Choctaw) is an educator working in the public humanities. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from the University of Denver and has worked for the Heard Museum, Museum of Northern Arizona, Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center. She currently serves on the Board of the Federation of State Humanities Councils. endawnis is the Co-Director of the Upstander Academy, and a founding member of the Akomawt Educational Initiative, an Indigenous education and interpretive consultancy for museums. She is the Practitioner in Residence for Tribal Engagement in the Office of Community Engagement at Brown University. Originally from Camp Verde, Arizona, she lives in Hope Valley, RI, with her husband, Cassius Spears Jr., and their four children, Nizhoni, Sowaniu, Giizhig, and Tishominko.

Karyl Evans is a six-time Emmy Award winning director/producer/editor/writer of documentary films. Ms. Evans, owner of Karyl Evans Productions LLC in North Haven, CT, has produced documentary films on a wide variety of topics from “Letters From Italy” where she directed Meryl Streep to the “History of African Americans in Connecticut”. Ms. Evans was a full-time Professor at Southern Connecticut State University for two years, teaching documentary filmmaking and film theory. Karyl is a Fellow at Yale University.